TORONTO — The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is demanding politicians stop allocating taxpayers’ money to the 2026 World Cup soccer matches after the federal government announced another $104 million for the Toronto matches.
“Wasting more money on the World Cup boondoggle is unfair to taxpayers from coast to coast and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shouldn’t be putting a dime into the project,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg.
The original price tag put forward by Toronto City Hall to host six World Cup matches was $80 million, but taxpayers learned earlier this year that costs have already spiralled to $380 million, according to the CTF.
“FIFA has already more than quadrupled the bill it’s putting on taxpayers and it’s a sure bet the costs are going to keep spiralling out of control,” said Goldberg.
“The federal government shouldn’t be pouring more taxpayers money into this boondoggle.”
The Ford government has committed $97 million toward paying for Toronto to host its share of FIFA games, but has ruled out increasing that funding any further.
The federal government announced earlier this week that they would cover $116 million of the cost for Vancouver to host seven FIFA games.
